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We Share the Sun: The Incredible Journey of Kenya's Legendary Running Coach Patrick Sang and the Fastest Runners on Earth
An enlightening biography and gripping sports narrative that takes us behind the scenes into the lives of some of the world’s most elite runners in Kenya and their coach, Patrick Sang.
At a secluded training camp in Kaptagat, Kenya, a small town nearly 8,000 feet above sea level in the Great Rift Valley, three-dozen world-class runners, including Olympic champions, world record holders and the fastest marathoner of all-time, share simple dormitory-style rooms and endure grueling workouts six days a week.
These determined, devoted, and selfless runners are who they are because of a man named Patrick Sang. One of the greatest—and least-heralded coaches in the sport—Sang is described by his athletes as a “life coach.”
In We Share the Sun, Sarah Gearhart takes us inside this high-octane world of elites of which few are even aware of and even fewer have ever seen. We are immersed in Sang’s remarkable story, from his college days in the U.S. to winning an Olympic medal in the steeplechase, and his journey to become a man who redefines what coaching means. There is no singular secret to athletic success, but, as readers will learn, Sang’s holistic philosophy is like no other approach in the world. It is rooted in developing athletes who can navigate the pressures of elite competition—and life itself.
In these pages, we explore Sang’s influence on his athletes — including his unique and longstanding relationship with marathon world record holder Eliud Kipchoge — as they prepare for the delayed Tokyo Olympics and other competitions. We witness the remarkable recovery of two-time New York City Marathon champion Geoffrey Kamworor after a freak accident as he strives to earn his first Olympic medal. And we follow one of the world’s most dominant mid-distance runners, Faith Kipyegon, as she attempts a historic repeat title in the 1,500 meters three years after the birth of her first child.
We Share the Sun brings forth the remarkable lives and stories of East African runners, whose stories are seldom shared. Through Gearhart's vivid prose, we experience the richness that exists in Kenya as we come as close as we possibly can to running alongside the new generation of elites—and the man who molds them into champions.
At a secluded training camp in Kaptagat, Kenya, a small town nearly 8,000 feet above sea level in the Great Rift Valley, three-dozen world-class runners, including Olympic champions, world record holders and the fastest marathoner of all-time, share simple dormitory-style rooms and endure grueling workouts six days a week.
These determined, devoted, and selfless runners are who they are because of a man named Patrick Sang. One of the greatest—and least-heralded coaches in the sport—Sang is described by his athletes as a “life coach.”
In We Share the Sun, Sarah Gearhart takes us inside this high-octane world of elites of which few are even aware of and even fewer have ever seen. We are immersed in Sang’s remarkable story, from his college days in the U.S. to winning an Olympic medal in the steeplechase, and his journey to become a man who redefines what coaching means. There is no singular secret to athletic success, but, as readers will learn, Sang’s holistic philosophy is like no other approach in the world. It is rooted in developing athletes who can navigate the pressures of elite competition—and life itself.
In these pages, we explore Sang’s influence on his athletes — including his unique and longstanding relationship with marathon world record holder Eliud Kipchoge — as they prepare for the delayed Tokyo Olympics and other competitions. We witness the remarkable recovery of two-time New York City Marathon champion Geoffrey Kamworor after a freak accident as he strives to earn his first Olympic medal. And we follow one of the world’s most dominant mid-distance runners, Faith Kipyegon, as she attempts a historic repeat title in the 1,500 meters three years after the birth of her first child.
We Share the Sun brings forth the remarkable lives and stories of East African runners, whose stories are seldom shared. Through Gearhart's vivid prose, we experience the richness that exists in Kenya as we come as close as we possibly can to running alongside the new generation of elites—and the man who molds them into champions.
239 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 4, 2023
61 people are currently reading
653 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
August 10, 2024
I feel terrible not giving this book a better review, given that the subject matter is 6*-worthy. The legendary Patrick Sang had not only coached some of the greatest Kenyan runners but also created a true community and training program that not only makes people run fast but invests them with a love of learning about life and the mental fortitude to cope with setbacks. The training camp Sang operates is intense. The food and living conditions are spartan, almost like a boarding school or barracks, but the athletes’ commitment and focus makes it a haven.
Unfortunately, the author provides little historical context about Kenya, and while her praise of the athletes, their sacrifices, and achievements is justified, there is little sense of drama or the complexity of their inner life, despite her chronicling externally dramatic events like recovering from childbirth or a freak motorcycle accident.
And there just simply isn’t the richness and detail of dramatic prose to translate the thrill of a race to the page.
I realize the pandemic must have hampered access, plus, discussion of the impact of Covid really takes away from the focus on the athletes. The book is often more about her getting access to the athletes than the athletes themselves.
The book reads like a fluffed out sketch of a magazine piece, and while I enjoyed interviews with the author on various running podcasts, I actually enjoyed the book less.
I hope there are more books on Sang in the future.
Unfortunately, the author provides little historical context about Kenya, and while her praise of the athletes, their sacrifices, and achievements is justified, there is little sense of drama or the complexity of their inner life, despite her chronicling externally dramatic events like recovering from childbirth or a freak motorcycle accident.
And there just simply isn’t the richness and detail of dramatic prose to translate the thrill of a race to the page.
I realize the pandemic must have hampered access, plus, discussion of the impact of Covid really takes away from the focus on the athletes. The book is often more about her getting access to the athletes than the athletes themselves.
The book reads like a fluffed out sketch of a magazine piece, and while I enjoyed interviews with the author on various running podcasts, I actually enjoyed the book less.
I hope there are more books on Sang in the future.
December 11, 2023
I’m really sad to give this book 1 star because I was so excited to learn more about Patrick Sang and the legacy that he has created through Kenyan distance running.
I was actually quite surprised to read that the author was a female runner herself, as I had guessed while reading that the author was male without running experience. Not only was the marathon distance incorrect (though I suppose this could pass as a rounding error), the author also described starting a 2Km rep as the athlete taking off “sprinting” - 2km reps are not sprints. I did not enjoy that the male athletes were described based on their strength or personalities, while the descriptions of female athletes centered on their weight and the presence of stretch marks. There was also a tone of complete disbelief that a woman could be an athlete at all.
Aside from the bad taste due to the above, I found the narrative disjointed and hard to follow. There were also a few typos. Would still like to read more about the Kenyan training camps and Patrick Sang.
I was actually quite surprised to read that the author was a female runner herself, as I had guessed while reading that the author was male without running experience. Not only was the marathon distance incorrect (though I suppose this could pass as a rounding error), the author also described starting a 2Km rep as the athlete taking off “sprinting” - 2km reps are not sprints. I did not enjoy that the male athletes were described based on their strength or personalities, while the descriptions of female athletes centered on their weight and the presence of stretch marks. There was also a tone of complete disbelief that a woman could be an athlete at all.
Aside from the bad taste due to the above, I found the narrative disjointed and hard to follow. There were also a few typos. Would still like to read more about the Kenyan training camps and Patrick Sang.
March 26, 2025
I really wanted to give this book a higher rating. The subject matter had so much potential but unfortunately the way in which it was delivered lacked flow and was extremely disjointed. I was rushing to finish this book, not because I was enjoying it but because I wanted it to be done. The constant timeline and athlete hopping made it extremely hard to follow, I would've much preferred if it talked about one athlete's journey at a time. This book had so much potential but unfortunately didn't deliver.
July 19, 2023
I don't give many books two stars, but this one was just not great compared to other running books I've read. This is unfortunate because the subject is such an incredible human. My biggest complaint is the lack of timeline and the constant hopping between athlete stories. The flow was off, and it was hard for me as a reader to keep track.
October 15, 2023
As a marathon runner, I thought this might be an interesting. It really was kind of dull and didn't really offer much insight to what makes Sang such a remarkable coach and person, nor how he is able to get so much out of his athletes.
June 27, 2023
A bit disjointed for my taste. I enjoyed the stories along the way, but it never grabbed me like I hoped it would. 6/10
June 28, 2025
Faith Kipyegon just broke her own world record in the mile this past week. Not only was that a remarkable feat but if you listened to her interviews, you would find her to be a very humble and gracious person. This is not surprising because Faith is one of Patrick Sang’s athletes and Coach Sang creates this positive culture in his training camp in Kenya. This book is a biography of Coach Sang and his longstanding dedication in helping to create champions who are also inspiring athletes. Even though Sang had been given many opportunities when he left competitive running, the one he chose was to give back to his community in Kenya. Through Sang’s coaching, he created countless World and Olympic champions and most importantly offered his athletes a path out of poverty. The subject matter of the book is first-rate but unfortunately the writing fell flat, thus the three stars.
April 19, 2025
Pretty incredible program and culture that has been set up, and Kipchoge is one of a kind.
May 3, 2023
It was interesting to hear some stories of Kenyan runners but the writing did not hold my attention. I also didn’t appreciate all the virtue signaling she used in regards to Covid.
July 22, 2023
Enjoyed learning about Sang and athletes like Kipyegon and Kipchoge, but the timeline felt a bit all over the place and hard to follow.
September 14, 2023
Not bad book but I didn’t enjoy reading it much, if you get the book with discount you maybe buy it otherwise i don’t recommend it.
December 11, 2023
I wanted to love this book given the topic but it didn’t flow and seemed like dates and events were all over the place
April 4, 2023
In 1837, Charles Dickens wrote in the melodramatic novel Oliver Twist, “The Sun. The bright Sun, that brings back, not light alone, but new life, and hope, and freshness to man-burst upon the crowded city in clear and radiant glory.“
Shades of a spring marathon perchance? But of course Dickens was British. The British are always yearning for the sun. From Daniel Defoe’s 1719 narrative Robinson Crusoe and William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 33 to the Beatles in Here Comes the Sun; it is a metaphor and their prescription for winters of discontent, if it is not a sort of deity.
Author Sarah Gearhart is an author, journalist and athlete. In her first go with a biography of supercoach — if such a thing exists — Patrick Sang, she provides a moving account of the inner workings of the world’s greatest distance runners.
Sang. Beloved enough — perhaps his athletes will take up, “We Share the Sang” — is the protagonist. There are no human antagonists in the story, however, as any endurance athlete is familiar, an implied foe may just be the human body and mind as it works against the trial of the miles and the gamble of elite training toward the big payoff.
https://athleticsillustrated.com/book...
Shades of a spring marathon perchance? But of course Dickens was British. The British are always yearning for the sun. From Daniel Defoe’s 1719 narrative Robinson Crusoe and William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 33 to the Beatles in Here Comes the Sun; it is a metaphor and their prescription for winters of discontent, if it is not a sort of deity.
Author Sarah Gearhart is an author, journalist and athlete. In her first go with a biography of supercoach — if such a thing exists — Patrick Sang, she provides a moving account of the inner workings of the world’s greatest distance runners.
Sang. Beloved enough — perhaps his athletes will take up, “We Share the Sang” — is the protagonist. There are no human antagonists in the story, however, as any endurance athlete is familiar, an implied foe may just be the human body and mind as it works against the trial of the miles and the gamble of elite training toward the big payoff.
https://athleticsillustrated.com/book...
October 28, 2023
This should have been a 5 star book for me. I have an entire shelf full of running-related books and am always excited to find more. I'm genuinely obsessed with the subject (and with running). I started this book extremely excited. And the content could be fantastic. She did a lot of great interviews and explored the topic of Kenyan running from a slightly different perspective than previous books on the subject.
But the writing leaves a lot to be desired. The truth is I couldn't finish the book. It's problematic simply on the level of grammar and word choice: using "less than" instead of "fewer than," sentence fragments that make no sense in context, sentence constructions and word choices that are baffling, and entire sentences that are ridiculous. But beyond this, the organization is all over the place. The content here could have been put together in a much more engaging narrative.
What a disappointment this book was.
But the writing leaves a lot to be desired. The truth is I couldn't finish the book. It's problematic simply on the level of grammar and word choice: using "less than" instead of "fewer than," sentence fragments that make no sense in context, sentence constructions and word choices that are baffling, and entire sentences that are ridiculous. But beyond this, the organization is all over the place. The content here could have been put together in a much more engaging narrative.
What a disappointment this book was.
January 13, 2024
The runners in Kenya are amazing. Based on other accounts, I was frankly underwhelmed reading this one. My impression when I purchased it was that Gearhart had gotten a special inside look. A large portion of the book does not appear to be based on time spent with Sang or his athletes. A lot of it is a biography of Sang and some of his athletes, a small fraction of which is content you can't just find reading about them online. There is a lot of space spent on poetic prose, which wasn't what I was looking for. Still, the author's actual conversations with Sang, Kipchoge, other athletes, Sang's college coach Blackwood, and Jos Hermens were all very interesting.
February 2, 2025
I read this book in less than a week, which I think shows that I enjoyed it. After reading some other reviews, I do have to agree with other readers that it lacks in a few areas. The timeline seems to jump back and forth depending on who the chapter is speaking about. It does provide a small back story to each athlete, but not as in depth as myself and others would have liked. It was cool hearing about their preparations and training, but again it didn't go into much depth. Overall a good book to read. Loved the photos included in the middle section, but not the top running book I would recommend to others.
September 29, 2024
I cant remember the last time I paid for a book this bad. Should have been a great story, and I was so excited to read it. But the writing is C- high school essay bad. I feel bad for the author; I would hope if I ever wrote something this painful to read my editor or at least a friend would spare me the embarrassment. What a waste of access to the subjects of an incredible story that deserves to be told by a more capable writer.
May 23, 2025
I really wanted to like the book and the subject is fascinating, but the writing was just too bad. It was almost impossible to follow because the action skips from athlete to athlete with no pattern and the timeline is extremely hard to follow. (I think the breaking two hour race was described twice for some reason?). Also, it is truly mind-blowing that a book about marathon running got the marathon distance wrong.
July 12, 2023
A bit disappointed with this book. There are too many interrupting dates and quotes that break apart the cohesion of the text. The synopsis led me to believe I'd learn of the philosophies and influences of Patrick Sang upon his athletes, but it often discusses irrelevant details of Sang's history that do not contribute to his legacy.
September 26, 2023
I liked the way this was put together and the writing style, and the fascinating story of Patrick Sang and the athletes whom he has coached to the highest levels of global achievement. I've been on a tear of reading stories about runners, mainly because the library seems to be putting them out. A smart decision given all the New Yorkers preparing for the marathon at this time of year.
November 12, 2023
"The marathon can be an unpredictable journey. A side stitch, dehydration, tight quads, hamstring cramps, stomach issues, a blister. Physical derailments. The pace is too fast. My body is tired. My muscles are burning. Mental derailments. Running a marathon is an art in conditioning the mind just as much as the body. Where the mind goes, the body follows, as Sang will say."
April 3, 2024
I would have loved to dig deep into Kenyan running culture and the actual story of Patrick Sang. Unfortunately, the author’s attempts at flowery writing get in the way of what could have been some fascinating information. The book was disjointed, full of sentence fragments, snippets of athletes’ stories in disconnected timelines, lots of adjectives and repetition.
April 18, 2024
I was kindly gifted this book by my friends who are also runners.
A great insight into the Kenyan runners and coaches. I did find the chapters to jump to quickly between different subjects and sometimes ran in chronological order but other times skipped to a different subject and I got a bit lost. However I would recommend this for any runner, especially those focused on longer distances.
A great insight into the Kenyan runners and coaches. I did find the chapters to jump to quickly between different subjects and sometimes ran in chronological order but other times skipped to a different subject and I got a bit lost. However I would recommend this for any runner, especially those focused on longer distances.
July 10, 2024
So inspiring and human - the accounts of so many elite runners who endure incredible difficulties in their regular lives and train their hearts out in a basic setting. Patrick Sang - the coach - one of those people who just seems to exude leadership and care! Easy, wonderful writing style for the book too.
April 14, 2023
Great book detailing Kenya's history in running and exploring their philosophy of life. It discusses Patrick Sang's journey to coaching, as well as Kipchoge and Kamworor's amazing successes (and hiccups)
August 11, 2023
As one who shares her bed with a "Serious Runner" (although not quite as serious as the ladies and gentlemen spotlighted in these pages) I was drawn to this book. Some great quotes and anecdotes but the lack of structure between chapters just became painful.
May 9, 2024
Life of Kenyan top runners is told, in a philosophical style. It was inspirational for me to read. The photos at the end of the book are lovely to see, with the stories of the runners still fresh in mind.
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June 20, 2024I wish I liked this book more. It would have been a great article, but I think it lacked details that I would’ve wanted from an entire book. I wished I learned more about Patrick Sang and his athletes’ lives (both inner & outer).
November 2, 2023
I don’t feel the author really captured the emotion I was expecting but a great read nonetheless
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews